Heading home from our morning walk, William and I noticed that a branch on one of the new trees planted in front of 34 South Second Street--a branch that had just started to leaf out--had been brutally broken. It strikes me that if people planted street trees that were bigger than this one, with branches that were higher up and less vulnerable to the casual walk-by snap off, trees would have a better chance of surviving in our tough urban environment.
That would be best, unfortunately it's also
ReplyDeletevery expensive. At least they're making the effort.
Give them time, they'll heal, besides, a (little) pruning sometimes does wonders :)
Edward--From planting a tree in front of my own house, I know that the expensive part is not the tree but the cost of hiring people to prepare the hole and put the tree in the ground. The tree itself--even one whose root ball is the largest the location can accept--is only about 10 percent of the total cost.
ReplyDeleteIt's cars and trucks pulling up to the curb, backing up too close and engaging the tree branches, along with the random pedestrian violence. Pruning, as mentioned before, would help a lot of the problem. Thanks for your vigilance.
ReplyDeleteIf the DPW could be weaned off of "volcano mulching," our trees would stand a much better chance of surviving the city's ignorant assistance.
ReplyDeleteWould it surprise me to learn that too few citizens care enough to have that practice changed?
@Carole - For me, digging the hole is hard work, but the least expensive part - free :)
ReplyDeleteI guess shopping for trees online isn't the cheapest way to go, but sometimes it's the only alternative. It's also very gratifying to plant a small tree and watch it grow over the years.